Scarred Past
by MakorraLove97
Summary: Katherine looks down at the water under Wickery Bridge. Her haunted thoughts are attacking her mind like they do every time this day of the year. This special day makes her want to rip her own heart out; it's the worst day of the year for her. When Damon finds her, he sees she's at her breaking point, but when he gets her to open up, what does he find out? What does he confess?


**Hey there everyone, how are you? So, this is a one-shot for ya' on The Vampire Diaries, one of my favorite shows, so, I really hope ya' like it :) Just for a heads up, this is a Katherine-X-Damon one-shot and it's kind of an AU. Katherine is living in the Salvatore's home, Stefan's dating Elena, they still don't trust her, but she finally convinced Damon to let her stay.**

_**Please let me know what you think of it, I would really appreciate it, thanks!**_

**Enjoy!**

**I OWN NOTHING; I DO NOT OWN THE VAMPIRE DIARIES.**

* * *

"_Scarred Past_"

**. . .**

Katherine stares down at the water below her, watching as the water sways around and moves. The water is clear and sparkling as the light from the sun reflects down on it; it looks so calm and peaceful; beautiful.

It's a hot day as the sun rests high in the sky, the sun rays beaming down. The weather isn't humid, but hot and there is no wind, only making it even worse. There is not a cloud in the sky; there is just the baby blue sky and the boiling sun.

A sigh escapes Katherine's lips as she taps her fingers on the railing of the Wickery Bridge. The front part of her body is leaning against the railing, with her hands gripping the railing tightly. Her dark, chocolate brown eyes are locked with the waves below, her mind suffocating with thoughts.

She is wearing her usual violet shirt that hugs her body nicely with her black jacket over the shirt; she is wearing black jeans with black high-heel boots.

She bites down on the inside of her cheek, cocking her head slightly to the side as images plague her mind. She could her body shake and she can't stand it anymore; she can't stand how she feels anymore. Today was _not_ her day; today was a day where everything from her past comes back to haunt her.

Suddenly, her eyes shift over to her bracket that dangles on her wrist. She narrows her eyes at it and her grip on the rusty railing tightens. Katherine slowly lifts her hand and rests it above the bracelet that is wrapped around her other wrist. She closes her eyes and right when she is about to rip it off, _his_ voice stops her in her tracks.

"Oh please don't try committing suicide in my presence." Damon says and then adds with a shrug, "I would probably get blamed for it."

Katherine rolls her eyes, but doesn't look over at him, "What do you want, Damon?" She was _not_ in the mood today and he is the worst person for her to see. Damon was wearing his usual black T-shirt and black leather jacket over it with dark blue jeans.

"What? A guy can't stroll around Mystic Falls?" Damon says with a grin as he leans his back against the railing beside Katherine. She glares at him, but looks back down below at the water, "No, you can't. At least not here, anyways."

He rolls his eyes, but his smile falls when his eyes shift down to Katherine's bracelet. He stares at it for a moment before finally breaking the silence between them, "So, you do know without that bracelet you would become a human torch, right?"

"No, I wasn't aware that over my 540 years of living, the bracelet on my wrist was the key for me walking in the sun and not becoming a –what was it again?- a human torch." Katherine sarcastically answers, her tone flat and annoyed.

"Are you always so… bitter?" Damon asks, raising an eyebrow as he watches her grip on the railing tighten and a huff escape her lips.

She forces a smirk and shrugs one shoulder, "I would like to say I'm more… sarcastic." She receives a laugh from him and she groans, snapping, "Can I help you? I am not in the mood for your remarks, so, if you have no real reason of being here, then leave."

Damon just stares at her, no emotion on his face at all; just a blank stare. His eyes look her up and down and finally, they connect with hers. Her dark eyes are staring into his and that is when he sees pain in hers. He could see the haunted look hidden in her eyes and he cocks his head to the side, eyebrows knitting together. "Katherine," Damon begins, "what's going on?"

She rolls her eyes and huffs as she silently thinks to herself, "_Looks like he isn't leaving anytime soon_." She looks at him and shakes her head, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Hey, some things I may not know- well actually I know a lot of things, but anyways, I know when I see a lonely vampire standing on the bridge that has had more deaths than any other, clenching at her bracelet that allows her to live in the light, there is something wrong. So, spill." Damon says as he takes a step closer to her.

Katherine stands up straight and throws her hands in the air, "I think you know better than anyone that I am _not_ the one for opening up and definitely not to _you_!"

"Are you done with all the yelling and complaining? Come on, what's going on? I know you well enough to know something's bothering you." Damon says as he watches her lean her back against the railing, sighing.

She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, "I tried running from my past for the last five centuries and somehow they still seem to creep up and catch me all the time."

"What's today though?" Damon asks, raising his eyebrow slightly at her. He believes that her past haunts her, but he knows that today made her go to some sort of breaking point. He watches as she fidgets with her fingers before she finally speaks in a low voice; a voice he never heard Katherine use before, "Today's _her_ birthday. Her birthday is today and it brings back so, so many memories and I can't stand it anymore. Every year when this day comes I feel so angry and sad, ugh!"

"Katherine!" Damon yells over her scream of frustration. He locks eyes with her and they both find it hard to look away. Damon takes a deep breath before finally asking, "Who's birthday?"

"My daughter." Katherine harshly says through clenched teeth. She swallows the rock in her throat and she seems somewhat better to get it off her chest, but she's hurting. "My daughter was born today; I was either 16 or 17 when I had her and she was beautiful." Damon could see the tears threatening to spill down her cheeks, but he knows she won't let one tear drop. "She was so beautiful, but because I had her without being married first, my parents didn't even waste a second before tearing my daughter away from me. They took her away and I never saw her again. Wait, that's a lie. I saw her again when I found the rest of my family brutally slaughtered by the hands of Klaus."

Damon could see the sadness in her eyes be replaced with hatred and he takes a step back, waiting for her to be done with her ranting and snapping. She runs her hand through her close, brown curls, "Did you know I never even got to hold her? Damon, I was disowned by my own family because I had a child without being married. I never got to know her, see her, be with her; I didn't even get a chance to name her!"

"The funny thing is," She begins, shaking her head angrily and letting out a sadden laugh, "even though I never knew my daughter, I still loved her." Katherine sighs and throws her hands in the air, "But look at me now. I could never have a child, I could never grow old, I could never have a family or a real life. I could never be with someone because I'm a monster in their eyes. I'm a monster in your eyes, aren't I? I will say something I have said before about Klaus and me: we manipulate, we thirst for power, we control, we punish, but our actions are driven by one singular place deep inside. We're alone, and we hate it. I hate it so much that I'm alone, but I can't change that and it sucks, but I'm use to it."

Damon stares at her, not knowing what to say. He watches as she throws her hands in front of her face and squeeze her eyes shut. He watches as she takes long, deep breaths and tries to calm herself down, but then when she removes her hands from her face, he watches as a tear slides down her cheek and hits the floor.

She wipes at her eyes and shakes her head, "I should go…" She starts walking away, but Damon's hand catches her wrist; his fingers circle around her wrist and holds it tightly, "Wait," he starts off, "Katherine, you're not a monster. You're a vampire and you have a scarred past, but you've moved on."

"Tell me how I moved on, Damon." She starts off, ripping her wrist away from Damon and folding her arms across her chest, "I have hurt you and plenty of others beyond count. I'm exactly how you describe me: a selfish, psychotic bitch."

Damon mentally curses at himself for saying that to her earlier in the day when they got into a fight. He sighs and shakes his head, "I didn't fully mean it." He watches her eyebrow raise, "Okay, maybe I meant it at the time, but you're not always like that, Katherine. I've seen the good side of you and not a lot of people get to see that. I can only imagine how you felt before you became a vampire and you had to go through that… you know, watching your daughter be taken from you and being disowned. I know you had a good, sweet heart once and I'm sure that probably broke most of it."

"When they took my daughter away from me, that practically smashed everything inside of me, Damon." She says in a low, shaky voice, "I used to be a young, beautiful girl who was as sweet as anything, but then they took my daughter from me, disowned me, banished me from Bulgaria, and then I met Klaus, who wanted to use me for a sacrifice and some ritual and I started running for my life. I ended up having vampire blood in me when I hung myself and you know the rest. I turned into a vampire and when I did, Katerina Petrova died and a selfish bitch was created. No human cared about me when they took my child away from me, so why should I care about them?!"

"Katherine, I know it must have hurt to watch your daughter be taken-" He starts off saying, but she snaps, cutting him off, "No! You have no idea what I went through. She was my baby and I never got to know her! She's dead, Damon! I saw one glimpse of her and that was it!" Tears are pouring down her cheeks, but she doesn't care anymore.

Katherine shakes her head and glares down at her bracelet, "I knew how to love. I loved her; I really did." She slightly turns her head so she could glance up at the Salvatore Brother, "I still know, I think. I still love her now, even after all those years. I still love my family too. And even after everything I have done, everything I have done to _you_ and Stefan… I still love you."

His eyes widen and at first he is hesitate on believing her or now, but by the way her eyes stared into his, he knows that she means every word she is saying. She then tears her eyes away from his and glares down at the bracelet once again. She wraps her fingers around it and shakes her head, "Being a vampire ruined a lot of things for me…" An angry, frustrated look spreads across her face and she then adds with a harsh snap, "but not anymore."

Then with that, faster than Damon could react, she rips her bracelet off her wrist and tosses it into the water below. Damon's eyes widen as he watches the sun cook Katherine's skin. Her skin instantly starts boiling and she screeches out a painful yell.

Damon quickly takes off his jacket and throws it over Katherine. He picks her up bridal style and runs as fast as he can over to the nearest piece of shade. He ends up at the nearest tree with the most shade and places Katherine on the soft grass.

She glares up at him, clearly annoyed at him ruining her plan, "What the hell was that for, Damon?!"

"What? I just saved your ass from frying! What the hell were you thinking?" Damon yells, throwing his hands up in the air. She just shakes her head and looks down at her lap, watching her skin repair itself as the seconds go by.

When she doesn't answer, she listens to Damon curse under his breath and slam his foot against the tree. She rolls her eyes and looks up at him, "What? What would you like me to say? Thanks? I'm not thankful! You know, for someone who clearly doesn't trust me, tried killing me _so_ many times, and _hates_ me, I find it surprising how you are always saving me-"

"I don't hate you!" Damon yells before she could finish saying her last word to the sentence. He runs his hand through his hair and huffs, "I don't hate you. I never did and I probably never will. Even with all the sick and twisted things you have done, I still don't hate you. All the lies you told and all the chaos you created and still create, I don't hate you. Okay?"

She stares at him, not knowing what to say. She swallows the lump in her throat and looks away when she could feel the tears in her eyes. Usually she is this strong, independent, and confident person, but today is the one day that shows her true weakness and her true emotions come out to expose themselves.

"You said it back there that you love me," He starts off as he kneels down in front of her, "Katherine, as much as I can't stand you, tolerate you, and as much as I don't like you… I love you."

Her eyes widen in surprise, not expecting that to come from Damon's mouth, ever, but before she could even respond or react, the next thing she knows, his lips are on hers.

She closes her eyes and kisses him back, her hands cupping his cheeks and deepening the kiss. His hands get lost in her hair, pulling her body closer to his. Only when her fingers hit the sun, she pulls back and slams herself against the tree.

She closes her eyes and lets out the shaky breath she has been holding for who knows how long. Damon watches her for a second before standing up slowly and walking away. Katherine narrows her eyes at him and yells out to him, "Hey! Where are you going?"

Damon turns around, now walking backwards, and says with a grin, "I have to go search for a bracelet in the water right now."

Katherine rolls her eyes, but could feel her own grin creep its way onto her face as she watches him dive below into the water to search for _her_ bracelet.

She leans her head against the tree and closes her eyes, waiting for him to return and somewhat hoping he actually finds her bracelet.

**. . .**

"Look what I found." Damon sings as he dangles the wet piece of jewelry in front of her face. She wakes up, not even remembering falling asleep, and gasps when she sees her bracelet in his hand.

"You found it." She breathes out with a wide smile on her lips, "How?" He shrugs his shoulders and places it around her wrist, "I'm a determined guy I guess."

"Or you mean 'lucky'?" Katherine says with a chuckle as she stands up and brushes the dirt and grass off her. She looks at him and nods her head, "Thanks…"

He smiles and nods his head, "Eh, I needed to go for a swim anyways." She just rolls her eyes and suddenly finds herself wrapping her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.

He wraps his strong arms around her waist, holding her tightly against his wet body. He takes a deep breath, inhaling her strong, beautiful smell and smiling slightly, "Katherine?"

"Yeah?" She answers, pulling away from the hug slightly so she could look at his face, "What?"

"Your, um, daughter… she would have been lucky to have a mother like you." Damon finds himself saying and by the look on her face, her eyes sparkling, he knows he's glad he said it and he knows it's true anyways.

She only smiles at him and nods her head, quietly replying, "Thank you." She then adds with a smirk, "But don't think because of this bonding moment I'm going to be any nicer."

"Hey, I like a challenge." Damon says with a smirk as he winks at her, making her shake her head and laugh. She then puts her lips to his ear and says, "Then bring it on."

He laughs and shrugs on shoulder, "You got it." She then places her hand on his chest and says with a small shrug, "You know, this scarred past I have, it's not going to go away… but I'm willing to get through it as long as you're around."

Then with that, she presses her lips on top of his, draining out whatever haunted thoughts that were attacking her mind and focus on Damon and Damon only. The corner of her lips curls up into a smile as their fingers lace together. Her past will never go away and leave her alone, but she has Damon by her side and that's all she needs.


End file.
